It's raining.  For the first time in weeks, our week has started with a gentle steady rain.  And in spite of what Karen Carpenter sings about rainy days and Mondays... I'm glad for the rain today.

It feels more like Amsterdam when it rains.  I've heard (albeit only from secondary news sources) that Holland has never experienced such an extended stretch of rainless days, at least not in the time period since they started keeping track of weather data.  The Netherlands is just one of those northern European cities that gains part of its identity from the low skies and ever-present threat of rain; yet the last time we had a rainy day like this was sometime around the third week of March.

So even though today's rain means sloppy commutes and dripping jackets and all that not-so-fun stuff, I guess you could say that my feelings about the rain this morning are kind of like someone going back to their dysfunctional family for a holiday reunion or something.  It's kind of like a homecoming.